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AAP
AAP
Justin Chadwick

Gustavsson urges more investment to keep him motivated

Tony Gustavsson wants to see more investment in Australian women's football to entice him to stay. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson says he's proud to be linked to the vacant role at the United States, but says he's keen to stick with Australia so long as there's more investment to keep him "motivated".

Vlatko Andonovski quit as US coach following the team's shock round-of-16 exit at this year's Women's World Cup.

Gustavsson's role in guiding the Matildas through to the World Cup semi-finals cast him in the spotlight for the high-profile US job.

The 50-year-old is contracted to the Matildas for another year and has given every indication he's committed to guiding the team to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But just like he did during the World Cup, Gustavsson demanded more investment in Australian women's football.

"What we did in the World Cup was not the end of something, it was the start of something," Gustavsson told reporters on Wednesday. 

"But I was also clear then and I want to be clear now, I want to see investment - for me to be motivated to stay as well. 

"We can't be complacent and think we're done.This is the start and the platform. And I want to see investment."

Gustavsson is in Perth preparing his team for Olympic qualifiers against Iran, the Philippines and Taiwan.

If Australia top their group, they will go through to the final phase of qualifying in February.

The upcoming matches in Perth mark the first time the Matildas will be in action since their fairytale World Cup.

Gustavsson's stocks soared on the back of that strong run and taking charge of the US women's national team would be a proposition hard to resist.

But the Swede is doing his best to dance around the talk linking him to the job.

"When we had a great World Cup, I'm proud to be talked about for a job like that (the US job). It's one of the biggest jobs in the world in terms of the finance and interest and all that," he said.

"But this (being Matildas coach) for me is also the biggest job in the world, and working with this team look at what we've done.

"What I've said then and say now is this is my full focus. I love working with this team. 

"I have one year left on my contract and all coaches know here that we're never better than our last game. 

"If we underperform in this tournament all of a sudden, I'm probably a very bad coach."

All three matches in Perth are a sellout.

Thursday night's match against Iran and next Wednesday's clash with Taiwan will be played at the 20,000-seat HBF Park, while Sunday's match against the Philippines is at the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium. 

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